Tata Group looking for senior executives for Titan Industries

The company has not joined hands with any of the search firms yet to pull appropriate profiles for the posts.

Indian Retailer Bureau

Tata group’s luxurious watch brand Titan Industries is strengthening its top positions by appointing new talent. According to the news hovering in media corridors, the group has started a succession planning exercise for its watches-to-jewellery retail chain.

As per the company, the group has a retirement age of 65 for MD and 60 for other senior executives. Abiding by the company’s norm, Bhaskar Bhat, MD, Titan Industries will be signing off from the company within three to five years and he will be joined by Chief Financial Officer Subbu Subramaniam, business heads of watches and accessories, jewellery, eye wear, and chief human resources head.

In forming about the development, Titan’s spokesperson said in an email that the company has a well-entrenched leadership development and succession planning process in place. The board is seized of all leadership and succession-related matters and will take a decision when appropriate.

However, the company has not joined hands with any of the search firms yet to pull appropriate profiles for the posts. But the sources revealed that most of these top brass positions will be filled within the group as it will help the company to give recognition to its quality performers.

But executives at search firms said it is high time the company announce a successor to Bhat as to have enough time to groom his successor. By now, there should have been a name announced for the post of an MD and transition phase started commented a senior manager of a search firm.

Gautam Duggad, Head of Research, Motilal Oswal Securities, opined that the company is well established and it would be in the natural order that a CEO heading one of their product lines becomes the next MD. Titan has done well but in the last 3-4 years has faced headwinds from regulatory decisions like the pause to the golden harvest scheme, PAN card rules among others.

Though the Tata Group is looking very positive about its latest move, but the Titian industies has not managed to live up to its performance this year. The luxury brand’s profit decline by 14.1 per cent to net profit 184.11 crore in the March ended fiscal fourth quarter.